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Topic: First service feedback (Read 2497 times)

Just got back from the first service of my AVL 500 and I picked up a few things that may be of interest/comment. The RE India service manager was at the shop, so this is pretty authentic.1. The AVL engine is supposed to take only 1.6 litres of oil,,,even with a new filter,,,the 2.25 litres mentioned in the manual is for the iron engine. No wonder people here had overfilling issues when they went by the book. And the two oil pumps working in tandem in the AVL engines create a lot of pressure and when there is too much oil in the bike, it is not able to hold it inside the engine.2. If the clutch cable breaks on the road, changing it has become complicated by a recent change in the gearbox. To change the cable, and get access to the gearbox end to do so, the oil in the gearbox has to come out, because the cover has to come off. So this oil needs to be stored, cable change done, and then the oil has to be refilled - and that via an inlet hole placed on the side, and not on top of the gearbox. Which means that a paper funnel has to be made to ease the oil from the inlet hole at the side.3. When the 1.6 l engine oil is refilled, 1.2 litre is added to the hole that takes the dipstick. The balance is added to the tappet access cutout, again by a funnel that allows this to be done from the side. 4. If the engine oil is drained while it is hot, just two drain bolts need to be opened - one under the oil tank, and the other under the flywheel chamber. Opening the third bolt is not required.5. Other than the oil filter change work, the AVL engine does not need much other adjustment to be done to it. Tappet pushrod clearances, after the first service adjustments, are also required very infrequently. One of the items that needs attention is the chain in the clutch assy on the left, this tends to get loose and starts messing up with power transmission, and needs attendance to keep it at the specified slack.6. While aftermarket pipes are a way to change to exhaust note, these tend to make it hard rather than the mellow note of the iron engine. And the secret to getting the best note from the iron engine is by working on the gap in the points. The crew at the shop said that in a standard 350, that is the secret of getting the note right, more than anything else. The pipe plays a part of course, but the points allow for the note to be tweaked to be just right. Does this make sense? I cannot figure out why very clearly, but do think that it sounds ok,,,the RE techs were very sure of what they were saying, btw.Food for thought,,,,if I remember more, I will post that as I do.Also, just watched a great bike movie for the first time,,,The worlds fastest Indian,,,based on the true story of Bert Munro, and his Indian motorcycle. Those who have not seen this one, should make it a point to, it is a very entertaining movie, even for other than classic bike fans.

That is interesting, I guess the tweak on the points changes the timing a bit.So i'm gathering it not mandatory to drain the oil pump , cause that sounds great to me. When I saw that in the manual it seemed weird, 200 ml is nothing. It seems like a lot of work, am i missing something?

All I can say is what I saw in person. The tech undid just the two bolts, and undid the oil filter of course. I had run the bike for 30 minutes to get there, and the oil change was done 15 minutes after I got there, so the oil was warm, thin, and very free flowing. It was allowed to drain out for a good 10 minutes. And when refilling, the bike took all the oil they put in by the calibrated measuring dispenser, and the oil level is at the right place now. Means that all the old oil was drained by doing just this, I have to believe. Re the points, I think they were referring to the point gap, and not just the timing. Perhaps the gap determines the strength of the spark? As I said, I am fuzzy about why having the points should allow for the tuning of the exhaust note better, but in some intuitive way, it makes sense to me. Maybe it is just a Bullet myth, I don't know. I know that here the techs also sometimes have these floating around in their heads as well!!

And re the Burt Munro movie, what is fascinating about the movie is all the parts he makes for himself to get the production bike made in 1920, with a top speed of some 45 mph, to run at close to 200mph, in 1967. I believe that this record for bikes below 1000cc, set at Bonneville, still stands. The man made his own pistons and conrods from metal stock such as tractor parts - I don't think that any of us are that deep into our Bullets, are we??!!Memorable film,,,as I said, folks on this forum simply have to see this one.

cyrus, re the 200ml, remember that the old oil carries contaminants that you want to remove as much as possible, and seen that way, 200ml of contaminated oil is a lot to allow to get remixed with fresh oil. Therefore, if the two bolt route, used in the manner the techs did, results in not getting all but the last few drops of the old oil out, I would question that method.

Yes you would need to change it. I am guessing that if the oil is from a hot engine, it would flow out easily from everywhere - the manual with the bike does recommend emptying the timing chest, by the way.

One word of caution, I try not to remove plugs from aluminum housings when they are really hot. Spark plugs in particular can be really dangerous to the threads in an aluminum head. It makes it a pain when you trying to read the mixture by plug color, but its worth the wait.